Submission from Patricia Martin – 26 February 2008

As a resident of Arran I have a great interest in, and concern about, the operation of the ferries.

Before taking up residence here 18 months ago I travelled back and forwards between and very regularly, mostly at weekends, while working full time in . In 20 years I was only once storm stayed and missed half a day’s work. Had I still been working now I should have had to give up my weekend breaks, at least in winter, as I couldn’t have risked not getting back.

The last two winters have been exceptionally windy. It begins to look as if this is the pattern for the future. What can be done?

Ferry Routes The crossing between Brodick and Ardrossan is a comparatively short one, yet time and again I notice that our service is disrupted while longer, and presumably more exposed, crossings are still being undertaken.

I understand that winter boats at one time went to Fairlie, access to Ardrossan harbour being extremely tricky. Is it out of the question for this practice to be revived?

Alternatively the Irish berth at Ardrossan seems more accessible. What investment would be necessary to enable it to be used?

Gourock used to be an alternative to Ardrossan, although it added greatly to passenger inconvenience. For some reason, not fully explained to us, is now rarely used.

Frequency and timetabling of services It seems that we have a more frequent service than we’ve ever had, and I welcome this. The timetable looks good, but on many many days suffers disruption.

In years gone by there was a “death boat” enabling weekenders to get back to work on Monday mornings. It would help the island economy to extend weekends to Mondays

Capacity For the most part the current boat, MV Caledonian Isles , is probably about the right size. It may be that 2 smaller boats would have been better, as its design seems to catch the wind.

In November when the Caledonian Isles went into dry dock it was replaced by the Isle of Mull, a fine boat but not fit for this purpose. We suffered even worse disruption then. This was partly due to having captains who were not experienced in our crossing.

Integration with other modes of transport Again, when ferries are running to time things go quite smoothly. However when ferries are delayed trains do not wait and there are many instances of passengers being stranded.

Communication CalMac recently improved communications dramatically with a designated disruption line and a texting service. It is not perfect yet, but it is now much easier to find out where the boat is.

To sum up Arran is a wonderful place both to holiday and to live. It has all the magic of an island getaway with the advantage of close links to the mainland. Its ferry service is, on paper, very good.

We on Arran need a reliable boat service to take us to family emergencies, hospital appointments, dentists, funerals, as well as to holiday destinations and shopping trips

Holiday makers need to know that they will get back to work on time. Hotels face crippling cancellations not only when weather is bad, but when customers get nervous about ferry disruption. The island economy is under threat.

We need 1 A harbour that is accessible in all weathers. 2 A boat that is fit for purpose- all year round 3 Skilled experienced captains- on every sailing.

When the boat sails it is comfortable. Staff are pleasant and helpful. It is a good service. Comments or complaints on other matters are dealt with promptly and efficiently. However comments about ferry disruption are treated politely but dismissively.

Safety must come first – We all agree with that. When all or most of the other Scottish sailings are cancelled due to adverse weather I do not expect our boat to go. But I fail to see why we should be disrupted so often.

I hope the Scottish Parliament will do something to improve the Arran ferry situation.

Patricia M Martin